Islamic Political Identity in Turkey

10The Securitization of Islamand the Triumph of the AKPIn the 1990s, Turkey’s religious and Kurdish groups used newopportunity spaces to assert their own identity claims. Since identitybasedpolitical systems tend to subsume all forms of class and ideologicaldivisions in identity categories, in the case of Turkey politicaldebate became dominated by the themes of Islam versus secularism,Sunni versus Alevi, and Kurd versus Turk. The state establishment,mainly the military and civilian bureaucracy, reacted to these identityclaims as security threats, and the “securitization” of Kurdish andIslamic identity claims further politicized Turkish society. By “securitization”I mean a concept articulated by Barry Buzan, Ole Waever,and Philippos K. Savvides whereby the state brands certain religious,ethnic, class, or ideological groups and movements as a nationalsecurity threat justifying coercive and often extrajudicial measuresagainst them. This process deWnes ethnic and religious identity claims“as an existential threat, requiring emergency measures and justifyingactions outside the normal bonds of political procedure.” 1 The assertiveKurdish and Islamic identity claims reinforced the “securitization”of domestic politics in Turkey and the institutionalization of a nationalsecurity state, in which the military expanded its overseer role toinclude such civilian areas as the judiciary, economy, education, andforeign policy. In accordance with its endowing ideology of Kemalism,the Turkish military regards acknowledgment of ethnic or religiousdiversity as a potential threat and a precursor of disunity. In the1990s, this fear of ethnic and religious diversity and its potential toundermine the political and ideological hegemony of the Kemalistestablishment underpinned the state policy of denying individualsand groups the right to articulate religious and ethnic identity claimsoutside of the very narrow oYcially sanctioned space.